President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing the heads of media
institutions yesterday, in the wake of the assassination of The Sunday
Leader Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge last Thursday, urged the media
not to harbour any fear of his government but to conduct themselves
responsibly and professionally, according to a statement issued by the
Presidential Secretariat.

The statement read: "President Mahinda Rajapaksa urged
media institutions to act with the greatest responsibility in reporting
events at a time when there is considerable public attention drawn to the
attack on the MTV/Sirasa TV station and the killing of the Editor of The
Sunday Leader Mr. Lasantha Wickremetunga, as well as the success of the
security forces in the fight to eradicate terrorism, when he met the heads
of private and state media institutions at Temple Trees this evening (14).

The President said he invited the media heads to discuss
the current situation especially in view of the reports he had received of
the irresponsible nature of the reporting into the recent attack on MTV/Sirasa
and the killing of Mr. Wickremetunga.

He said that while politicians were free to make any
statements about matters of public interest, the media had to ensure that
they were not reported in a manner that would divert the inquiries that
were being conducted into other directions, and not give the police a
chance to carry out proper investigations.

He regretted that some media institutions had mentioned
the name of a certain officer of the Intelligence Services in the current
context, which had resulted in threats to this officer, and said the media
should be concerned about such consequences of their reports. He recalled
how almost the entirety of the Military Intelligence Corps of the country
had been killed after a media report had revealed their names in a most
irresponsible manner.

One arrest had already been made with regard to the MTV /Sirisa
attack, and it was most likely that others would follow soon. Contrary to
some media reports the Government Analyst had still not submitted the
report on this attack.

When asked about the government position on threats to
journalists, President Rajapaksa said he would give the assurance that no
journalist or media institution had cause to fear any threats or attacks
by the Government.

The President said that at a time when the government was
at the very height of its popularity due to the success of the offensive
against terrorism, it had no interest in losing this public acceptance by
even an iota, by attacks on the media as had taken place. The Government
had no interest whatever in seeking disgrace through any attacks on the
media, he said. He assured the media heads that the culprits would be
captured and brought to justice.

When asked what the policy of the Government was with
regard to the Tamil people, President Rajapaksa said the Government was
not against the Tamil people. "We want peace. We are not against the Tamil
people. We are against terrorists. "You [the media] have all the freedom
and the right to support the Tamil people, and any parties or
organizations of the Tamils, but please do not support terrorists", the
President urged.

He said it was necessary to prevent communalism whether it
came from Tamils, Sinhalese or Muslims, as it was always harmful to the
unity of the country. We must understand that this country belongs to he
Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims and all communities, who have equal rights
as citizens of this country, and we will work to safeguard these rights.
The media should be responsible in not fanning communalism from whatever
source it came, the President said."